Never get between a gal and her anacapa drive… this week, we take a look at book three and the final (?) installment from the Diving into the Wreck series, Boneyards, out this month from Pyr Books and written by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Fans of the series and this space will remember our review of the City of Ruins installment which saw Boss and her team discovering a fully functional (and crewed?) Dignity Vessel in a depot buried deep within the bowels of a planet. [Read more...]

Batten down the scopes…today is a day when we celebrate all things astronomical. This year, International Astronomy Day as reckoned by the Astronomical League falls on May 7th and October 1st. This weekend is a good time to visit that local astronomy club or planetarium and see what’s happening in the night sky… and if they’re not planning an event, ask em’ why not? [Read more...]

This week, we present to you that most vaunted of science fiction awards: The 2010 Ryslings, as presented within the 2010 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2009 as selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association and edited by Jaime Lee Moyer.

Tired of waiting for E.T. to call? Late last year, the distributed computing program that started it all, http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/, turned ten. One of the most scientifically ambitious programs run before bedtime, SETI@Home showed us that computers could do more than display flying toasters in their spare time. In fact, word of the first SETI@Home way back in ’99 initially convinced us here at Astroguyz that we probably should get a home computer, and we’ve been hooked ever since. Sure, the Vulcan home world has yet to present itself, but this is one of those experiments that even one confirmed positive hit would have some amazing implications!

In 2001, SETI@Home essentially became the world’s largest collective super-computer. But what you may not realize are the changes that have been made, and the ones that are in store. In 2006, a multi-beam sky survey was introduced. Then in 2007, the Astropulse Survey was launched. Further upgrades to come are a Near-Time Persistency Checker, searches beyond the current 2.5MHz Band, and new methods of limiting terrestrial radio interference, as well as a means for users to share new data. What we’d also like to see is a dedicated SETI@Home platform, perhaps via the Allen Telescope Array. SETI currently piggybacks off of Arecibo data, which itself spends most of its time staring at extra-galactic sources, not prime alien country. Anyway, if you haven’t, now’s the time to donate that idle CPU time for what could be the discovery of this or any other century!

Astro Documentaries

Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.

DIY Astronomy

Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.

The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.

Astronomy Gear Reviews

Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.

Astronomical Observing Targets

Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.

Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.

A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.